Lilacs and Larkspur
by peraspera
Summary: He didn't think he'd make it out alive, and yet here he was, sitting at home, remembering everything that had happened. He couldn't seem to escape the nightmares that plagued him both daily and nightly. That is, until a certain loud-mouthed female enters his life. Snafu/OC, post-war.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **

**Hi, guys! So, I started to write a Snafu/OC Pacific fanfic. It's based after the war, so it'll just be focusing on their interactions with each other. Please let me know what you think so I know if I should continue or not! Also, I'm not 100% certain on Snafu's accent yet, so if you'd leave me comments telling me how I could improve on that as well, I'd be very much in your debt. Alright, I think I've jabbered on enough. (You'll get this reference later~ ;) ) Also, I promise that the chapters will get longer as they go on. As this is just a beginning chapter so you can get a feel of the characters, it's shorter. But as they get closer, the chapters will get longer. Anyway, Enjoy!**

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The rays of the Louisiana summer sun beat down on his dark, curly-haired head, his face flushed, sweat shining on his forehead that was creased. A hand covered his eyes, laying horizontally, as he gazed up at the sun, trying not to let the sun hurt his eyes too much. It had to be about a hundred and fifty degrees, he guessed. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but it sure felt like that.

No one really traveled out here except for him. Merriel "Snafu" Shelton wasn't exactly a popular boy, but he wasn't lacking in friends either. He could've have plans today, that sweltering summer, but after the war had ended, it left him scarred, brutally so. He wasn't the same, and he reckoned he'd never be quite the same. He knew his family and friends were worried about him. Hell, he hadn't even contacted his friends that he'd been at war with. He just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Why did he even want to go out here in the first place? He couldn't remember. The trees gave him little protection from the sun's rays, so that definitely wasn't the reason. There wasn't a swimming hole or anything around here, so it wasn't that, either. Why did he travel all the way out here without anyone around him? Why?

A noise caught his attention. Head snapping up, jaw clenching, shoulders squaring, body tensing. Every single molecule of him was alive then, waiting in anticipation. The Japs were going to attack. They were going to get him. Where was Sledge?

He snapped out of it just in time so see a woman staring back at him. Well, she definitely wasn't a Jap, was she? He slowly relaxed his posture, only then realizing how foolishly he'd reacted. She'd only stepped, maybe snapped a twig, but it was enough to make him go haywire. He knew he wasn't going to be the same for a while, but, Hell, he hadn't ever thought it'd be this bad.

Snafu opened his mouth to apologize, but nothing of that sort came out. In fact, nothing came out at first. He just looked at her, open mouthed, blue eyes focused on her before he closed his mouth. He probably looked like a damn fish. That's what he imagined, anyway.

"I didn't mean to frighten you." Well, she definitely wasn't around here. Her accent was more pronounced, though it wasn't anything British or something like that. New Jersey, or Pennsyilvannia, maybe.

As always, pride came before anything else with Snafu. "Ya didn't scare me."

She didn't look put off by his indignant response, or by the fact that he didn't really speak understandable English. She just shrugged those frail shoulders of hers. "Right, sorry, my mistake." She didn't say it like she was making fun of him. She said it like it was her fault, her mistake. He almost felt bad for her. Well, almost. "I usually take a walk out here around this time of day." She offered, because he didn't speak after that. Maybe she wasn't good with awkward silences, and maybe that's why she talked so much. "My family moved here about a year ago, but I've never seen you around here before."

"S'cause I didn' get here 'till a few months ago." Snafu replied. He watched her full, petal pink lips form a smile, apparently satisfied that he'd finally spoken. 'What a fuckin' weird girl.' He mused. "'Cause of the war."

"Oh, so you must be Merriell Shelton. My father told me a bit about you. He'd talked to your mother for a bit after we moved in. I live just across the street from you." She rambled. If she talked any faster, she'd bite her own tongue off.

Sure, she wasn't a head turner, but she was alright, with shoulder length, warm, brown hair paired with dark green eyes. For some reason, though, he didn't feel like mindlessly flirting with her. Had the war really changed him that much?

No. It had to be because she wouldn't shut her trap and let him get a word in. Yeah, that was it.

"...And he came home and mentioned that someone named Merriell who was about a year older than me lived across the street. So, naturally, I inquired about it, because-"

"Snafu." He found himself saying, without realizing it.

She looked puzzled, her brows furrowing. "What?"

"Snafu. S'my name. No one calls me Merriell anymore." Snafu replied, changing his gaze from her mary jane shoes to her puzzled face. "S'a military sayin'. Means, 'Situation Normal All Fucked Up.' Ya get it?"

"I guess so. It gives me a good idea about your personality already." She stuck her hand out, smiling pleasantly at him. It was a smile that made him all sorts of confused, because he wanted to see it all the time, but he also wanted to smack it right off of her face, right on with those long eyelashes of hers. "I'm Caroline. I don't have a nickname, so-"

"Jabber." He interrupted her again. He almost felt bad for it, but, then again, that confused face she was pulling was just too good for him to stop doing it. "'Cause ya talk so fuckin' much. Thought it fit."

Snafu waited for her to look insulted, he waited for her hand to come in contact with his cheek, for her to turn away and huff, stomping away in those little shoes of hers. But she didn't. Instead, she laughed. "Fair enough. Snafu and Jabber. They're quite the nicknames."

"Yeah, guess so." He mused, shoving his hands in his pockets. She was weird and he was hungry, so he wanted to hurry this little meeting along.

As if she was reading his mind (or maybe it was him tapping his foot impatiently), she piped up, "Well, I'd better be going. I'm usually home by this time, helping my mother prepare dinner. I guess I'll see you around, Snafu."

"Yeah, m'sure." As she turned and waved to him until she couldn't see him anymore, Snafu just watched her, hands shoved in his pockets. Then, he finally walked home, and it wasn't until he was already in his house that he realized that he hadn't thought about the war the whole time he was talking to her.

"S'just the nature." He muttered to himself, shaking his head. Yeah, the nature. What else could it be?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

**mamareadstomuch2: Aww, thank you so so much! I'm so glad that you're excited, and thank you so so so much for reviewing the first chapter. It really means a lot to me, and I get so excited when I see a review. :) I noticed that there weren't many Snafu/OC stories, and the ones that were there weren't continued. So I decided to take a crack at it. Thank you! I tried to go a bit more abrasive in this chapter, hopefully that shows. If not, please let me know! I wanna make this as accurate as I can. Yes, I tried to make her thick skinned, because she'll definitely need it with someone like Snafu. I think as we delve deeper into her personality, you'll see a lot more things about her. So far, I'm really liking this character, so this story will be around for a while. (Knock on wood)**

**krikanalo: Thank you! I tried to make it a bit different than the other stories I've seen. A lot of times, if you read a story, you get so inspired by it that you end up writing a story that's too much like the other one, so I tried to distance myself and think from my point, and this is what I came up with. I'll try to work on the dialouge as much as I can. Thank you so much for reviewing and reading the first chapter!**

**Alright, without further ado, here's the next chapter!**

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Family dinners were the bane of Snafu's existence. Well, they didn't used to be. Sure, he occasionally made the inappropriate comment that got him a slap on the back of his head from his mother that was elegantly paired with a stern look from his father, but other than that, they were bearable, and made even more bearable by his mother's exquisite cooking. However, after he came home from the war, they'd become a chore, a hassle.

All they did was give him pitying looks. They wanted to throw him into therapy, to get him checked out by a psychologist. He didn't want that. Who needed some damn uppity college kid telling him that he had something wrong with his mind? Like he knew everything about him. All he'd do was take a shit ton of money to tell him something he already knew. He didn't need that.

Still, they pitied him. They gave him looks like they wanted to help him, but they knew him very well and knew that they couldn't force him to do anything. He was an adult, and he could make his own decisions. Shit. He should have been getting married and having kids soon, but the war stopped that, too. Who'd marry someone like him? The whole 'man in uniform' thing got old when the girls realized that they actually had to deal with some trauma that he had. They had to deal with his nightmares, his constant panic that someone was going to shoot him at any second.

Yeah, he didn't need that. It was just another person to pity him.

"I heard from our neighbor, Mrs. Klein, that you met her daughter today." Dinner talk was always awkward, strained, and incredibly bland. It made Snafu cringe, and he didn't bother to hide it. "Caroline. Caroline Klein." She continued when she didn't hear a response pass her son's lips.

Raising his eyes to meet his mothers, Snafu's brow lifted in the slightest of ways, an action that his mother knew all too well. He was thinking hard about something. And she wasn't too far off. Snafu thought about what he'd done that day. Not too much, actually. Just met that girl in the woods, came home, showered, and slept. He got up long enough to eat. "Oh." Finally, recognition passed on his face. "Ya mean Jabber?"

Silence. Snafu looked over at his mother again, only long enough to see a quick flash of horror on her face. "Ah, relax. She didn't care 'bout it. Even laughed. Fuckin' irritatin', if ya ask me."

"Merriell!" His mother sounded indignant, appalled, and all around shocked that she heard those words pass her son's lips. It wasn't like it wasn't something she'd heard a thousand times before, but she still liked to pretend that her son was a perfect little angel who had great manners, a wonderful posture, and, most of all, a clean mouth.

None of those were true, but she still lived in that damn fantasy land of hers long enough for her to believe they were. "I ain't never met a girl before who could jus' brush shit off like that. She jus' shrugged them shoulders of hers, and laughed at me. Must'a thought I was a fuckin' riot. Reckon I should start myself up a comedy club?"

"This isn't a joke, Merriell!" Well, maybe that wasn't the correct thing to say. But Snafu had never mastered the art of conversation. "Those are our new neighbors-"

"Been there for a year." Snafu put in, but she ignored the interruption.

"-Who haven't had an impression of you, but now look at what you've done! You've gone and completely ruined what respect their daughter had for you! Oh, the poor girl! She must be so horrified. I'd be shocked if she ever spoke to you again!"

The doorbell rang, the sound echoing throughout the house. The table went silent, each person looking from one to the other, as if waiting for someone to get up and answer the door. Snafu's father was the one who finally got up and did it. With a sigh, he wiped his hands and walked to the door, opening it. The door wasn't visible from the dining room, and so Snafu casually went back to eating his food, finally having a chance to eat.

"Merriell, it's for you." Well, apparently not. Heaving himself up from the table and muttering a few curse words under his breath along the way, Snafu made his way to the front door. Who the hell in their right mind would visit him during dinner?

Oh. She would. "Hey, Snafu!" She greeted cheerily, earning a shocked and slightly bemused look from his father. His father quietly excused himself and went back to the dining room, muttering a few words to Snafu's mother that he didn't hear, nor did he really care about.

"If it isn't ol' Jabber." Snafu didn't invite her in like his mother would've wanted him to, mostly because he didn't want her to come in. "Missed me already? Most people get sick of me, they don't come searchin' for me."

"Yes, well, you leave quite the impression." The way she spoke was different than any girl he'd ever met. It took him a moment, but when he saw the little smirk on her lips, he realized that she was teasing him. Imagine that. "Anyway, I only came to give you this." It was only then that Snafu noticed the basket in her hands. It was covered with a nice, white napkin, embroidered with the letter 'K' in a pale pink color. As always, Snafu made no effort to hide the fact that he was cringing, nor did he take the basket into another room to look at it. Instead, he inspected the contents right in front of her. Cookies. Chocolate chip, by the looks of it.

"Usually, I gotta take girls out on a few dates 'fore they come bringin' me stuff." Maybe he didn't want her in his house, but it didn't mean he couldn't tease her for a bit. Besides, he liked the way she bounced right back with some snappy comeback. It made things interesting, almost like a game.

"It isn't for you, actually." She replied, her voice light an airy, though there was a certain tone in it that snapped Snafu right back into place. It made him smirk. "It's for your mother. My mother borrowed a cup of sugar the other day, and she wanted to thank your mother for it. Tell her that, please."

"What do I get, hmm?" He mused, grinning wolfishly at her. Now he was flirting. When had he done that last? He couldn't remember. Either way, it was fun. He felt some new feeling coursing through his veins, making him feel alive.

She rolled her eyes, that impish little smirk still on those cherry stained lips of hers. "What would you want?"

"I'm thinkin' a kiss would be good." He replied, not missing a beat as he patted his cheek with one hand. "Right 'ere. C'mon now, pucker up."

"Yeah? Alright." Those lips spread into a grin. "You gotta close your eyes though."

Alright, fine. He'd play her game. His eyelids fluttered closed, and the moment they did, his cheek stung as her hand came in contact with his face. His eyes snapped open and his hand went to his cheek, feeling the area. It burned to the touch. He watched her, wide eyed, as she put the handle of the basket in his free hand. "Goodnight, Snafu." With that, she sent him a wink and marched off, right across the street to her house.

Rubbing his cheek, Snafu closed the door and took the basket into the dining room, where his mother had already cleaned up dinner. He didn't care, though. He was more hungry for those cookies that were in the basket in his hands. "Merriell!" His mother's worrying voice brought him out of his thoughts. "What happened to your cheek? What did you do to her?"

"She slapped me." He replied casually, still grinning. "Oh, these are for you. Caroline," He was careful not to mention her nickname. He'd spare himself a lecture from his mother on any occasion that he could. "Told me to give it to ya. Said her mom sent 'em for ya."

"Oh, what a sweetheart." Snafu's mother gushed, taking the basket in her hands, smiling sweetly as if the woman had sent her over a basket of cash instead of a basket of cookies. She uncovered the cookies, the sweets filling the room with their scent. "Oh, we've got to repay them somehow."

"Oh, I tried." Snafu replied as he took a cookie from the pile. "But she ain't one for kissin' strangers." Before his mother could lecture him again, he left the room and all but danced up the stairs, still grinning from the day's encounter.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

**I just wanted to make a quick note; although there's no note of this in the chapter, their encounters don't take place a day after another (unless otherwise stated, obviously.) They're spaced out, but I'm just focusing on the times they encounter, if that makes sense.**

**krikanalo: Thank you so much for reviewing and reading again! I hope you like this chapter as well. :)**

**mamareadstomuch2: So am I! I've been a fan ever since I was younger (I think it started with Night at the Museum, honestly) but it only recently evolved into more. Thank you very much! He didn't enjoy the action so much as he did the fact that she actually had the guts to do that to him. Thanks. I'm trying to make her very gutsy and sarcastic and playful, so I'm glad that it's coming across well. :) In the beginning, he just assumed that, but as you can see, as he interacts with her more, he realizes that she isn't just some very peppy girl and that there's more to her, which intrigues him. With the way things are going, he's most likely going to have to pursue her. ;) Thank you again for reviewing and reading!**

**Alright, onto the chapter!**

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"Step right up! Popcorn, a dolla' a bag!"

"Cotton candy! Get'cha cotton candy here!"

"Step right up! Test your strength!"

The sounds of the annual carnival that came into town were both familiar and strangely unfamiliar to Snafu. His parents has since separated from him, leaving him to walk on his on as they went off to look at different things. They'd trusted him, they had said before they walked off. It hadn't happened in a while, Snafu noted. His parents rarely allowed him out of his sight, for fear he'd do something stupid, or he'd freak or have a panic attack.

Strangely enough, none of those things were happening lately, although the bright lights and loud sounds of the carnival were beginning to take their tole of Snafu. He considered finding his parents and booking it, though he couldn't find them in the large crowds of people, so that idea was immediately out of the question. He was bored and nervous and someone looked sort of like they were following him, though he couldn't be entirely sure. But it was better to air on the side of caution. Who's idea was it to keep so many people in the same damn area, anyway? He could barely breathe in there. It was suffocating, someone smelled like sweat, and some woman couldn't keep control of her spawn.

"Hey, Snafu!" Her voice was light, airy, and kind. More importantly, it was a voice he recognized, a voice that immediately calmed him down and took him away from those loud sounds for a bit. When Snafu realized that she was the one speaking to him, that Jabber had been the one to calm him down, he resisted the urge to scowl. What was with this girl?

"Well, if it isn't lil' ol' Jabber." When he saw her starting to look uncertain, his mouth moved on it's own, and he watched as the light began to go back into her eyes. They were a nice color, he noticed. A pretty shade of green. Not too bright, like an emerald, and not too dark, like the forest, but somewhere right in between that-

God damnit. He wasn't going to allow her to cloud his thoughts.

"C'mon." He interrupted her during another one of her little rants, grabbed her wrist, and began half dragging, half walking with her through the crowds. She was confused at first, and struggled, but then she finally walked with him, her free hand clutching a half-eaten bag of buttery popcorn tightly. He could smell it on her, mingling with the flowery scent that she ususally had. Strangely enough, it didn't smell bad-

Shit. He really, really needed to stop doing that.

Then, he spotted it. The strength test. You get the big, old hammer, hit the bottom, and try to hit it hard enough so the bell dings at the top. If it does, you win the stuffed animal. If it doesn't, well, you suffer public embarassment, but only if you're a guy who wasn't strong enough to win something.

As if trying to justify his actions, Snafu had somehow convinced himself that winning her this toy would somehow keep her the hell out of his thoughts. Even while he thought this, another part of his mind was screaming, 'Bullshit!' But he continued on, paying the money and taking the hammer in his hands.

"Ya better pick out which one ya want." Snafu told the little brunette with a lazy smirk, the hammer over one shoulder as he gazed over at her. Before she could reply, he turned and slammed the hammer down as hard as he could. And he watched as the gauge that resemled a thermometer went up and up and up...

... Only to stop a quarter of the way to the top and then drop back down. Snafu watched, flabbergasted that he didn't win it. Maybe it was rigged.

Before he knew it, Caroline was rolling her eyes and paying the money, marching on up and taking the hammer from the guy. She used her strength (which couldn't be much, seeing as she stood at only about five feet and two inches) and slammed the hammer down. Snafu and passerbyers watched as the gauge went up and up until the bell went off, signaling that she'd won.

She'd actually won.

Grinning, she grabbed pointed to a bear on the shelf and the employee handed it to her. She then handed it to Snafu. "Here. I figured this'll remind you of the person who beat you today."

The bear was brown, a nice, chesnut brown color, and was about half the size of the girl who'd just handed it to him. It wore a white sundress, similar to the one she was wearing. When Snafu looked back at her and saw that same impish smirk on her face that he'd seen her wear so many times before, he knew this was a game now, and he was determined to win it.

"Well, thanks." He finally said, hooking his arm through hers. "Let's find anotha'."

They walked for a bit longer before Snafu spotted another game, spotting a bear on the shelf that he knew he had to win. Apparently, she had the same thought, because she grinned and unhooked her arm from his, sprinting over to the game, intending to leave him in the dust. Always the competitive one, Snafu bolted after her, sitting on the stool beside her, where other people were already seated, ready to begin the game.

It was a squirt gun game, and the object of it was to keep your water gun aimed at your target for as long as you could which would then prompt your car on the opposite wall to move. Whoever's car got to the end first would win the game, and therefore get the prize.

What Caroline didn't know, the smug little devil, was that this was a game that Snafu was _very_ good at, to say the very least.

The bell went off, signaling that they were starting the game, sirens going off all around them and lights flashing as they began the game. Snafu kept his focus on his own target, watching as his car raced past everyone else's. He'd always been great at this game. It came from years of practice coming to this carnival and wasting his parents' money on it. Caroline's car was still at the beginning, and apparently, she was a terrible shot, not that he'd expected much, but still. He'd never seen someone so bad.

Snafu looked over at her for a moment, looking back at his target every now and then to make sure that he was still shooting in the right spot. Couldn't have himself losing this one. "Yer fuckin' terrible." He told her between laughs, and then suddenly, she started laughing, too, keeping her eyes on the game. He appreciated that, how she could just laugh and not get offended about the fact that he was teasing her, or the fact that he just cursed at her.

Just like he'd thought, Snafu won by a hell of a lot and got his pick of a prize. Grinning triumphantly, he pointed to the bear on the highest shelf. The employee grabbed it and handed it to him, and he promptly handed it to Caroline. "Guess we're tied." He said, watching as she examined the bear.

It was a bit bigger than her bear, a shade darker, too, wearing a little army uniform with a cheesy little nametag that read 'Sgt. Bear' on it. Sure, the rank was wrong, but it was the thought that counted.

Caroline smirked at him, hugging it to her, seeing as she could barely wind her arms around it, let alone hug it with one arm. "You were a worthy adversary, Snafu." She paused, her grin growing. "But I still beat you at a strength competition."

The two began walking, seeing as the sun was nearly set and the lights were on, blinking around them. "That was fuckin' rigged and ya know it. I can see it in that damn smirk o' yours." He shoved her playfully, though not too hard, remembering that she was a girl and no matter how much he could joke with her, physically she really couldn't keep up with him. Especially not being that scrawny.

"Hey! I won fair and square." She replied indignantly, though she was laughing with him. She had a nice laugh, he noticed. Most girls laughed too loud, or too softly. They either leaned into him too much or leaned away too much. She had a way of being just in the middle of those groups, laughing loud, but not in an obnoxious way. She didn't do that annoying clapping thing either, or that thing where people laughed without sound. He fuckin' hated that. "And if you want to keep saying that it was rigged, then the other one was rigged, too. Especially since you won by so much."

"I won fair and square!" He imitated her, all down to her high pitched voice and accent, though they were extremely exaggerated at best. She responded by childishly sticking her tongue out at him, which he grinned at.

"I swear, if I closed my eyes, I'd think you were a child." She told him, shaking her head as if she were highly disappointed in him, though her lips were still spread out into one of the biggest grins he'd ever seen her sporting. He briefly wondered if she'd ever grinned like that before. He'd personally never seen it before, and while she was looking down, hiding it, he found himself a little annoyed that she'd be looking away from him while doing that, almost like she was embarrassed by her own smile. He resisted the urge to yank her chin up, and instead decided to make another comment.

"Yeah? Well, I ain't need ta' close my eyes for ya. Ya look like one already. What are ya', two fuckin' foot?" Well, that certainly worked. She elbowed him harshly, trying to keep a straight face, though she failed and started laughing.

And Snafu realized that while he was walking with her, he wasn't nervous about the crowds of people, he wasn't jittery or jumping because of the flashing lights and loud noises around him, and nothing triggered his memories of the war. Nothing. It was just her, and him wondering why she was so damn confusing and infuriating that she had to be on his mind no matter what he did.


End file.
